The Family Business
by Ramjet73
Summary: The quiet life of the MacKenzie Clan in the backwaters of Waunakee, a non-descript world in the Federated Suns, was rudely interrupted by Kuritan Mercenaries one Saturday morning in 3020. This is the tale of how they went from a collection of vacationing Academy graduates to battle-hardened Mercenaries while liberating their home world.
1. Foreword

**Foreword**

This story is not only my first foray into the Battletech Universe but also my first works published online. So, helpful feedback is truly appreciated! I've been involved in Battletech on and off since about 1988 and despite dalliances into Clan Tech I have a soft spot for the slug fest that was the Succession wars.

**Canon**

There is little recorded Canon on the World of Waunakee beyond it being colonized in or around 2317, then eventually becoming part of the Federated suns in 2571. It remained so until it was occupied by the Draconis Combine at some point between 2797 and 2806. The Armed Forces of the Federated Suns liberated it in 2807 during the first major AFFS counter-offensive of the First Succession War. At the point in time this story is set (3020) it is located three jumps from the Border with the Draconis Combine, normally considered beyond raiding range.

**Non Canon**

Waunakee was invaded by DCMS forces in early 2806 as what would turn out to be the final wave of invasions. The regional city of Halifax on the eastern coast of the Primary continent was home to a small production facility for Laser & PPC subsystems for GM on El Dorado with minerals sourced from other nearby mountainous islands. It was located on a flat coastal peninsula which made for rapid construction of a spaceport and factory in an otherwise mountainous area.

Draconis forces bombed the factory from orbit prior to invading the Capital Akee City over 5,000km away on the West coast. A token force occupied the town during the ten months of occupation before the planet was among the first to be liberated in 2807. With no hope of the facilities being rebuilt and the Company officially ceasing to exist, over half the residents left to find work in the Capital or off world. For a brief time between the first and second Succession wars the town recovered by building its Tourism industry based around its Beautiful Mountain Lakes and Fishing combined with a budding Heli-skiing industry flying out to the higher peaks further inland.

As the Second Succession war began and the Tourism Market dried up the Town Council made efforts to become more self-sufficient, clearing the old Factory ruins to create local small-scale agriculture. As the war progressed a demand for Gems and Minerals for Laser production returned as older existing Mines off-world ran dry. The Mines were easily reactivated, and the town became a waypoint for the export of the resources that were once processed locally.

Little changed until 3020, The Local Government grew complacent about the Military threat and corruption crept in to the local Militia forces. While a Kuritan offensive was underway closer to Terra a newly-formed Green Battalion was sent on a deep raid with the intent of taking the world for a few weeks and taking what resources they could. Beyond the financial benefits of the raid it would 'Blood' the unit, giving it combat experience while also acting as a distraction to stretch out Federated Suns Military resources.

After Takashi Kurita signed off on the overall plan a second Tactical review found it would be advantageous to hit both Akee City and Halifax at the same time. With the need for the whole Battalion to hit the Capital at once it was decided to hire on a Mercenary company to hold the outlying town and act as a reserve. Of course, being a diversionary raid with a very restrictive budget the quality of the forces the DCMS were willing to pay for was limited.

Due to unforeseen delays charging in the Sun Prairie system the Starlord Class Jumpship Takamora arrived at a Pirate point in the Waunakee system a few days later than planned. As the Pirate point was quite close to the only inhabited planet and only having limited Aerospace fighter support the Forces were forced to commit to the attack.


	2. Prelude

**Prelude**

Many great tales have humble beginnings. But not many start in a senior management meeting.

While the history of the MacKenzie Clan stretches much further back, the Story of MacKenzie's Marauders begins at the height of the First Succession war, over 220 years before the unit was formed.

Paul Mackenzie worked for Lazwerx, a Defence industry supplier, as their head of Facilities and infrastructure. Lazwerx were a Major supplier of Laser and PPC sub-systems to General Motors on El Dorado from their factory in Halifax, Waunakee. These systems went into their Martell and Magna products.

In 2797 the Federated Suns had a new First Prince – Paul Davion. Word had come from the new leadership that all Military suppliers were to make efforts to fortify their facilities and mitigate loss in the event of a raid. At that time Waunakee was considered far behind the lines and a low priority, but nevertheless, the Board were under instructions from the Government to show they had made efforts to address the request. The CEO of Lazwerx, Max Bryce, asked his Senior Management team for suggestions. Paul was the only one to come back with anything reasonable.

He suggested relocating their Warehouses from next to the spaceport up into the mountains. It would add some cost in terms of logistics, but if a raid were to disrupt production it would allow continued supply from the stockpiles while the factory underwent repair.

The Warehouses were approved, an additional request for 'Mechs as a 'Ground Security Force' was added to a request for Aerospace forces from General Motors.

Paul, as the originator of the idea and the Facilities Manager was put in charge of the project. Work began quickly on a series of concealed Bunker Warehouses and a Mech Bay. Of course, being a landholder up in the hills he was in an excellent position to negotiate a good lease with other landholders and himself on behalf of the MacKenzie Clan. The deals were fair, and Paul worked to be reasonably transparent through the process. Overall, the deal was very helpful to the Mackenzie Clan's finances.

By 2806 only one of the three planned stockpiles had been completed, General Motors had supplied a Company of brand-new Marauders for their Ground Security Force in 2801 but the Company was having issues finding pilots. As the war had progressed General Motors had reversed the logistics flow for some spare parts to speed up supplies to the front. Some incomplete lasers were now sent to Waunakee for final assembly before going straight to the front lines. The only operational Warehouse was now full of completed Magna Lasers, mostly Medium class.

The First Succession War wasn't going well for House Davion at this point. Draconis Forces finally arrived in system that year. But instead of the expected occupation of Halifax, A DCMS Warship bombarded the Factory site from orbit while Troops landed in Akee City. As fate would have it, Paul was the only survivor of the senior management team. He had been working up in the Highland facilities that day.

The planet was liberated just under 12 months later. In the aftermath Lazwerx had ceased to exist. Surviving shift-workers from the plant were offered jobs by GM on El Dorado. Paul, along with the rest of the remaining population of Halifax though, were out of work.

Buried in the lease paperwork for the Factory and the Bunker Warehouses was a clause that if the company ceased trading the leased properties, all improvements and any abandoned equipment became the property of the land owner. For the destroyed Factory site that meant the City Council of Halifax. But the Bunkers, the 'Mech Bay and the 'Mechs inside now belonged to Paul MacKenzie.

While they were not a big secret, there were not many people who knew the exact location of the facilities in the Hills, Paul made an effort to remove any evidence of their presence from public records as well as demolishing several bridges and burying a few roads so access was much more difficult.

Of the 12 'Mechs originally in Halifax, four had been operational at the Factory and were lost during the bombardment. Another four were dispatched to Akee City and were lost during the invasion. The last four had been in storage at the unused Mech Bay in the hills.

While Paul's two sons became MechWarriors in the AFFS, he secretly worked in the background to help rebuild industry in Halifax at the end of the First Succession War. Over the generations one of the four Marauders was lost during combat and another was heavily damaged and ended up being stripped for parts. That all changed with Peter MacKenzie in 3015 though.

Except from "The History of MacKenzie's Marauders", by Scott Mackenzie. Published by Galatea Free Press, 3027.


	3. Chapter 1: Graduation

**Graduation**

"When a world has been at peace for more than the average lifetime you develop a kind of apathy. The Succession wars were something that was happening 'out there', on other worlds in the Inner sphere. It had been over 200 years since the destruction of the factories that had stood outside of town. The land had been scavenged, cleared and eventually crops planted to feed the local population. We had forgotten that war could come and visit us.

All that changed one Saturday afternoon."

\- Quote from the Journal of Tessa MacKenzie.

**Saturday, 3rd June 3020**

**Halifax Highlands, Waunakee, Draconis March, Federated Suns.**

Scott never got tired of the view of the lake from the deck of the Cabin.

The name 'Cabin' was a bit misleading. In reality it was a large fishing lodge with about 20 guest rooms up in the Mountains to the west of Halifax. It had been in the family for hundreds of years although it hadn't been run as an active business since the Start of the Second Succession war.

It was early Summer. He had just finished his final Semester at the Waunakee Military Academy over in Akee City a week before. It was time to relax and take a break before the actual graduation ceremony in a week's time.

Scott had made a lot of friends in his time at the Academy, now he was playing host to some of them along with his Sisters and their Academy friends. They were a tight-knit group, the Academy was only small, it didn't have a big reputation but was enough to get you a look-in at a bigger Officer Candidate School or a foot in the door to a reputable AFFS line unit.

The huge area of the deck was furnished with an odd assortment of chairs and lounges that had been accumulated over the years. After a morning of productive fishing everyone had started congregating on the deck as Scott's Father Peter fired up the Barbecue to make lunch.

Looking around he spotted Tessa, his sister, stretched out on one of the sun lounges in her bikini again, working on her tan and enjoying the attention of her Male admirers. Tall, thin, blonde and busty, she could have easily had a career in modelling but had chosen to become a 'MechWarrior like her siblings. Tessa enjoyed using her looks to get her opponents to underestimate her.

Beyond her, Jake Gonzales, arguably Scott's best friend, sat at the large table opposite Mitchell Menoski. As usual it was Mitchell doing the talking.

"I tell ya, once you switch out the Autocannon for a PPC the Wolverine totally kicks Ass!"

Jake smiled and shook his head dismissively.

"Yeah bro, they're called Griffins." Jake reached over to his portable Stereo, changing the song to another of his weird collection of 22nd Century Mariachi House music.

Kara walked up from the adjacent boathouse to check on the progress on Lunch, she had been out with two of her friends on paddleboards all morning.

Scott was the first to notice the building rumble. There was rarely much unscheduled air traffic on this side of the continent, so it was unusual. The three dropships suddenly came into view as they passed quite low overhead, the roar of their engines catching up quickly.

Despite all his training his first thought was "What are those idiots playing at?' It was his dad who was first to react.

"Mule… Union… and a Condor I think… Kuritan I'm pretty sure… the Condor is in DCMS colours." He was already heading inside to get the Sat phone, he returned half a minute later, everyone had begun to stir, the initial shock giving way to a sinking feeling setting in.

"Not getting any birds to make a call, pretty sure we've been interdicted." he discarded the Sat phone and tried the local cell phone.

There were just enough towers through the mountains to make a call if you knew where to stand, Scott recalled one of the MacKenzie family ancestors had either built the cabin on exactly the right spot or arranged to have the network cover the cabin, they never knew which.

"No good, the uplink to Akee City must have been taken down also."

The cell network still relied on an uplink to connect the two cities on either side of the super-continent. Peter kept dialling.

"Bob! It's Pete, we got a company of Snake 'Mechs and possibly a Battalion of infantry landing on our heads right now… No, I'm not kidding… Just call the foremen before we lose the network and grab your kit. You know where to go, I'm here already."

He turned back to look at the assembled group with a smile. "I guess the vacation's over kids!" it was a kind of smile Scott had rarely seen on him, not since his retirement from the Militia years earlier. Something had awoken in him.

Within a few minutes Peter had everyone running like a well-oiled machine, delegating tasks as if he was reading them off a list. Field kits were prepped, all the weapons in the Lodge were gathered and readied then issued to newly organised scouting and sniper teams. Finally, he pulled Tessa aside and sent her off to go and prep the 'Mechs and the facility. She disappeared quickly on one of the trail bikes.

Scott's first instinct was to follow her out, fire up the 'Mechs and wade in to test their mettle face to face with the invaders. But he knew that unless they were an entire company of light 'Mechs he would get his butt kicked. Eventually his brain kicked in and started thinking tactically. He knew the terrain outside the city. They had to play divide and conquer, lure a recon force out of town and crush it. Strike at them where they are weak while they are out looking for us.

He was expecting his father to tell him what their first move would be when instead he asked him what he thought.

"I think we should set up a couple of recon teams. One up at the lookout and another just shy of the hill climb. We need to know exactly who comes up the hill. I'll take everyone else over to the hangar."

Peter thought for a moment.

"A sound plan. Let's get to it."

Scott had picked out the six people best for the job and given them a rundown. Two would setup at the lookout to watch overall activity in the city and act as a relay, the other four would setup a roadblock at one of the switchbacks at the start of the foothills.

The old ICE truck sat idling beside the steep road about half way down the pass. Tall, ancient Pines obscured much of the switchbacks below, but this was one section that gave both good cover and good visualization of the road below. Two of the team were digging in sniper positions while the other two were chain-sawing through select trees to use the trunks for a checkpoint chicane. That left Scott with the Binoculars watching the road below.

"Truck, incoming." He called out as soon as he spotted the large, enclosed back truck climbing up the hill quite quickly.

The saws stopped and weapons were readied rapidly.

The truck flew around the hair-pin bend dangerously fast, several of the figures holding rifles and hanging off the side nearly came off. Some of the faces looked familiar.

"Stand down, it's Bob's crew."

The truck only slowed a little as it passed them, they were all hollering and waving. Scott waved them through.

The saws and digging resumed, Scott rotated through with the diggers so they all had a break. They were just about ready to bring down the two pines when Mitchell spotted another vehicle on approach.

"Another one, hauling something huge too."

He handed over the Binoculars to Scott and prepped his weapon. Scott caught a better view on the next hairpin, it was a flatbed 'Mech hauler, obviously carrying something big. As the vehicle rounded the final hairpin below them Scott scanned for the driver.

"Jose!" he muttered at first, "STAND DOWN! It's Ramirez."

Scott dropped from the new hide above the roadside and casually stepped out in front of the slow-moving Truck. At first, he nearly jumped out of his skin but once he recognized him his face changed to the biggest grin. Stepping to the side as he slowed even more Scott grabbed a handle, hauling himself up to the cabin.

"Hola Senor Ramirez!" he greeted him jovially. He grinned back.

"Hola to you to Scott! I'm looking for Jake and your father, I need a little help with Jake's graduation present."

Scott had already figured there was a 'Mech under that tarp, the shape was obvious. At least a Medium class.

"I can help with that. Keep moving up round the bend to the flat bit, I'll need a minute."

He knew there wasn't time to waste, the truck needed to go directly to the 'Mech bay, time could be critical depending on how combat ready the machine was. Scott waved over Mitchell.

"You're in charge, you know the plan. Don't take any stupid risks. Oh, and for god sake, don't talk their ears off!" he grinned at the last point.

Mitchell threw him a salute then gave him the finger. Scott shook his head and started up the steep scrub trail to the next section of road where the truck had stopped.

Scott had taken the run up to the Hangar many times over the years although never in a vehicle this large. The original roads had been cut way back in the First Succession war, his ancestors deliberately creating numerous camouflaged turnoffs so you would need to know exactly where you were going or you would find yourself circling back to the start.

He couldn't help but ask about what was under the Tarpaulin.

"A Griffin. Almost fully rebuilt. Took me two years to rebuild it from a half of a torso. Everything is 100% rebuilt except the LRM launcher. Couldn't source one. I haven't fired up the reactor in six months though and the Gyro needs calibrating."

"And you managed to keep this from Jake this whole time?"

He nodded and grinned. "Pretty sure he doesn't know."

"Yeah if he had even half a clue I wouldn't have head the end of it."

"I think we can find a solution for the Launcher," Scott had already started calculating the possibilities in his head, could they add four? Maybe five medium lasers? They wouldn't be as well integrated as the work on the Marauders but still better than jury rigged for sure.

Scott radioed ahead allowing them to drive straight into the Hangar and back straight into an already prepped Service bay. Peter and Jose greeted each other like the old friends they were.

"So, you've been keeping secrets from me." Peter grinned as they walked up the Bay.

"Says you! Three Marauders? I suspected one, that's why I came, but THREE?!"

The tarps were already gone and she was being hooked up to be hauled vertical already. Jake appeared and rushed over to hug his father followed by a rapid exchange in Spanish. After the hugging he turned to Scott, his Grin undeniable.

"Congrats buddy! No longer one of the dispossessed!" Scott and Jake Hugged.

"She's no Marauder, but she'll still run rings around you!"

They stood and surveyed her for a couple of minutes before Jake spoke again.

"The old man seems to think you have some alternative ideas to replace the LRMs?" he asked.

"I've read about a few designs adding medium lasers, turns them into good close-range brawlers." Scott said, "I'll show you the files. Either way we are going to need to work overtime to get her operational."

"So long as you ain't taking notes from Motor!"

"Do you have a name for her yet?"

"I'm thinking 'Señorita Coneja' Jake grinned.

"I like that. Coneja is Rabbit yes?"

"Si!" they both laughed.

Tessa and Kara were sat in the briefing room chatting when Scott arrived with Jake to discuss ambush plans.

Jake did not have the years of experience crawling all over these mountain ranges like the others but paid close attention as they reviewed options on the old tactical map projector.

It took a couple of hours to narrow down several Ambush points and lures. In the mean-time more friends rolled in through the evening and into the night, word had gotten out in town and we soon had nearly fifty volunteers mostly with their own equipment, food and light arms.

It was an interesting sight, they would roll into the Bay despondent at what was happening down on the coast then seeing the four 'Mechs and all the work going on their spirits would lift. Kara said it was like watching the resistance being born with each person.

News from the town was limited, the 'Mechs were Mercs, two Commandos and a Firestarter was all that had been spotted so far. They were operating out of a Union Class Dropship so there could be up to another eight plus two fighters possibly. The infantry were DCMS regulars, a Battalion at best guess. Their dropship had already left but they were busy securing the town with the 'Mechs floating around as backup. Peter would come in as the team planned and add enemy data to the tactical display.

After another couple of hours discussing what they knew about the 'Mechs spotted so far and how to engage them they all needed a break. They emerged back into the 'Mech bay just as the morning twilight began to creep into the Bay through the open doors. There was scaffolding all over the Griffin, Jose was moving from one team to the next to keep them all on track installing the new weapons.

Despite the noise several tents had been set up on the far side of the Bay, dozens of people were sleeping both inside and outside of them.

Scott looked back at the three Marauders waiting patiently and his Sisters.

His mind wandered back to the first time he came here.


	4. Chapter 2: Growing up

**Growing up**

The first time he met his Cousin Kara it was a beautiful summer's day when he was nine. Her mother, his aunt Ruth, had passed a few years earlier but her father, uncle Tom, had recently died in combat. Despite taking an Autocannon round to the head he had still beaten the Kuritan Dragon he had faced one on one. As his company withdrew back to the dropship he passed out, a small fragment of shrapnel had nicked an artery. He bled out before the medics could get to him.

After Ruth's death Peter had promised his brother, he would raise Kara should anything happen to him.

And now she was here.

Peter had taken his son into the study and spelled it out. Kara was alone in the world and it was now his job to watch out for her just as he watched out for Tessa. He had another sister now. It didn't take long for her to adjust.

Five years later on Scott's 14th birthday his father took them all on a trip up to the family cabin. The family owned several plots of land in and around lake Whitehaven and on this trip Peter took them to see the family secret. He took the three of them on a drive further up into the hills to what looked at first to be a huge cave. As they came closer, they saw the huge blast doors within.

The three kids piled out of the old truck eager to explore, quickly coming to a halt in surprise when the doors started opening. Scott looked back to see his father with his laptop out and a smile on his face.

The doors rolled back to reveal a large 'Mech hanger and facilities inside. At first he thought this was an entrance to some huge underground facility, maybe some Star League era base. But quickly realised it was just a well camouflaged, reinforced 'Mech Bay. The lights came on as they walked across the main floor showing them three 'Mechs parked in service bays towards the back.

"Marauders!" Scott had exclaimed loudly, instantly recognizing the design.

Each of the 'Mechs appeared to be in very different condition. The closest appeared to be in excellent condition, painted in the Waunakee Militia camo scheme although Scott did not know that yet.

The next had several battle scars and most obviously was missing its top Autocannon. It was painted in a desert Camo style.

Finally, the last had only a small amount of damage but was missing an arm as well as the Autocannon and a large number of armour sections. Peter explained later the last one had been used as a source of parts over the years.

"Can we see inside the cockpit?" Scott had asked my father hopefully. He grinned back.

"You'll need to if you're coming on a ride along with me!"

He was lost for words, excited beyond anything he'd experienced before in his then young life.

"What about us daddy?" Tessa piped up, Kara beside her.

"Of course sweetheart, you can both have a ride too after the birthday boy here." he turned back to his son, "Now I need to go start up the reactor, do you want to help?"

It didn't take long to begin the cold start sequence of the reactor, as they worked and Peter explained things to him a distant fuzzy memory popped into Scott's head.

"Was this your BattleMech dad?"

"It was son, were you guessing, or do you remember?"

"Both I think. I remember mother pointing you out at a parade years ago and I recognize the Waunakee Militia emblem on the torso there." He said, pointing.

"Very good." he smiled proudly.

"Who do the other two belong to?"

"Well, the closer one belonged to your uncle Tom and now belongs to Kara."

"Wow! Does she know?" he looked over to the two girls wandering the length of the 'Mech Bay.

"Not yet. I'll talk to her about it when I go out with her, so no spoiling the surprise ok?" Scott nodded.

While the reactor cycled up Peter showed his children how to climb up to the cockpit using the proper handholds. Once all the systems were ready, he had Tessa and Kara sit in the cockpits of the other two 'Mechs so he wouldn't have to worry about them running around underfoot. He'd put safeties on most of the systems but had the Comms running along with the gunnery Cam feed so they could talk and see where they were going.

Scott felt like the twenty-minute ride stomping around a nearby meadow was over before it began. But it was right at that point he knew what his future career would hold. He said as much to his father, but he seemed to know already.

When they returned Scott swapped with Kara in the second 'Mech. They hadn't said much while they were out and now that Tessa had him on a private channel she had a million questions. He tried his best to answer them.

Tessa's turn came around sooner than she expected and like Scott, it seemed to be over before she knew it too. She returned probably even more excited than her brother had been. She'd also done the maths in her head, three kids… three 'Mechs…

"So, daddy… which one is mine?" she asked, laying on the sweet innocence extra thick. He laughed.

"So, you all want to be MechWarriors then?" he smiled before mumbling "Your mother is going to kill me."

"Well sweetie, When, and only when, you graduate from the Academy you'll get the one you were sat in first." he took us around to stand before the third 'Mech.

Tessa pouted, "but it's lost an arm!"

"They'll all be fixed up by the time you're old enough! Don't worry." He reassured her, "You'll be helping out with that, we'll all be coming up here regularly to help get these three grand ladies in shape."

"Why does my 'Mech have to be a girl too?" Scott asked his father. He laughed.

"It's a tradition. 'Mechs, like ships, are usually female. Unless you're Lyran, then they're usually male."

Peter was true to his word. They spent many weekends up at the hangar slowly restoring the three 'Mechs to their former glory. The work had proceeded well for the first few years. All three had taken an interest in the process beyond what Peter had expected. One day a few years back Peter had casually mentioned how he was struggling to source a couple of Class 5 Autocannons. Scott asked the question, could they just substitute something else? He simply smiled and took the three for a walk outside.

A few hundred metres away they found another smaller warehouse. Inside there were hundreds of Crates. Scott looked over the labels.

"Lasers?" he asked simply.

"Yep. Hundreds of them. All classes, but mainly mediums. Before the wars that's what they used to make in Halifax."

Peter went on to tell him the story of Paul MacKenzie, his ancestor, and how he secured the family's fortune.

It took several months for Scott to find all the Technical readouts on all the variations of the Marauder that were out there with a particular focus on those with lasers. In the end he'd narrowed it down to two options.

The easy choice was to substitute a Large Laser for the Autocannon and add Heatsinks. This was easy in the sense that the top mount wasn't too difficult to modify and only needed basic reprogramming of the targeting computer. It was also a design that saw a fair amount of use in the Federated Suns too.

The second option was more complex. Add four Medium Lasers, Heatsinks and even some extra armour. This was far more work, they would need to fabricate new torso mounts for the lasers, run new power and coolant lines to the locations as well as more extensive reprogramming of the Battle computers.

The family debated it at length, in particular how it impacted the 'Mech's tactical profile. Finally they went with the harder option, the close-in firepower was too good to pass up and they had the time to perfect the fit-out design. It also taught them a lot about BattleMech Systems integration, doing proper modifications as opposed to field modifications. Most importantly Scott thought, they learned respect for these giant war machines.

By the age of 16 they'd finished rebuilding them to 'showroom quality' so they moved on to drilling with them. Peter took them on 'hikes', teaching them how to handle tricky terrain quickly and safely. From piloting they eventually progressed to target practice in the field.

Probably the most amazing part to Peter was that all three of them never said a word at school. Rumours of course would circulate about phantom 'Mechs running the hills above Halifax, Tessa often encouraged them, even suggesting they would look out for them at the graduation party week.

The original plan had been for Scott to be formally presented with his 'Mech at the actual Graduation ceremony in two weeks' time. This was the tradition of the Academy, the next generation inheriting a family's legacy. A couple of his classmates would be receiving their family's 'Mech and moving straight in to the Waunakee Militia to replace their parents.

That was all scattered to the winds now.


	5. Chapter 3: Dissention

**Dissention**

A beer bottle smashed itself against chest armour as Kate Harman took her Phoenix Hawk down the one of the wide residential streets in the outer suburbs of Halifax. This wasn't the first one.

There was no point in responding, they would be gone before anyone could get here.

Her Lance-mate and Friend Miguel was one block over in his Griffin. As for the other two members in her Lance, Jackson and Phillips, they were holed up in their Archers in the middle of a Soccer field, no doubt getting a head start on today's liquor supply.

Kate sighed.

A month earlier back on Galatea Meade had looked the proper officer. Well dressed, well equipped, very professional.

Both herself and Miguel had mustered out of their previous unit after it had taken a beating against Marik forces and had to down-size. The Wolverine Miguel had been driving had been written off and her Phoenix Hawk was in sorry shape. They both needed a new gig urgently.

Meade had offered her a six-month contract, basic wages, no salvage rights, but an overhaul of her 'Mech. She could live with that, then re-negotiate in six months for salvage. He also needed a pilot for their Griffin. She was happy to connect him up with Miguel.

The first sign of trouble came when they were trying to find their quarters on board the Aurora. There was trash in the corridors, missing panels, random puddles and other things laying around. The quarters themselves were grimy, they hadn't seen fresh paint in years.

The other MechWarriors were cliquey, leaving them as outsiders but this wouldn't be the first time she had to deal with that.

She was surprised to find a week into their transit that they had finished work on her 'Mech. Well that was something. They could ride out the six months and if things didn't improve, they'd muster out again.

Of course, they didn't.

They'd burned in to Akee City along with the rest of the Kuritan contingent, enjoying the benefit of their fighter protection. As the rest of the forces Combat dropped, they traversed laterally across the continent to Halifax. The four jump-capable 'Mechs, herself included, dropped on the Spaceport ahead of the landing, barely giving them enough time to secure the LZ.

If they had met even token resistance it could have rapidly degenerated into chaos. Everyone seemed to go and do their own thing unless they were given a direct order.

This was insane, no way to run a military outfit.

Another bottle hit her 'Mech's arm. She ignored it and kept moving.


	6. Chapter 4: Resistance

**Resistance**

On the morning of the fourth day Jake's 'Señorita Coneja' walked out of the hangar under her own power for the first time. Dozens of people followed him out to observe the trial run. It was a real testament to Jose's skill that she had very few issues on this first full run. They were now a full Heavy 'Mech Lance. The following days saw them go out and familiarise themselves with the terrain and potential ambush sites in addition to 'Muddying the trails' in other words, creating enough 'Mech footprints to make it extremely difficult to track them.

It was the ninth day when they saw the first enemy forces come up the mountain.

There had been a firefight between some locals in town and the Snakes. A few guys had taken shots at one of the 'Mechs in town with a shoulder mounted SRM launcher then hightailed it out of town. An infantry platoon had pursued them up the hill only to meet stiff resistance at the ambush point on the trail. The Kuritans fell back with heavy casualties and the resistance gained some additional weapons.

The following day another Platoon headed up the mountain, this time accompanied by a lance of Recon 'Mechs, a Firestarter, two Commandos and a Stinger. Scott and his Lance were out at a place known locally Fox canyon doing a walk-through of a potential ambush site. As a box canyon they were looking at leading non jump capable 'Mechs in and trapping them.

Word came through as they moved out of the radio dead zone in the canyon, several columns of smoke could be seen rising through the hills. They were burning any potential hideouts of the resistance.

Scott took the team up to a near-by hill top.

"That looks like the O'Malleys place on the left." Cara said over Comms as they watched the columns of steady smoke.

"That might be the Smithson's old place near the pass, hard to tell now it's dissipating." Tessa added.

As they watched another column began to rise a lot closer.

"That might be the old shack on the far side of the lake. If we can get a couple of trucks in and lure them towards the Canyon we might be able to run the Fox Canyon ambush." Scott said, he switched to the wide comms channel. "Hey Motor, got your ears on?"

"Certainly do Big M."

"Can you rustle up a couple of Jeeps and run them past the lake and out to Fox Canyon?"

"Already have 'em set up for ya. Just say the word"

"Give us…six minutes."

"Copy that."

The rest of the team were already on the move.

The infantry squad had quickly cleared out of the old hunting lodge as the Firestarter approached. The corporal leading the squad signalled they were clear and the 'Mech brought two of its plasma-based flamers to target the old wooden structure. Within minutes it was fully alight, and the infantry were loading onto the truck. The four 'Mechs set off ahead to the next house on the list knowing the trucks would quickly catch up.

The two Jeeps roared down the track that passed the old shack each had a guy stood up in the back wildly firing an assault Rifle in the direction of the Infantry Truck. In a move that could be considered either brave or insane they flew down the road and right past the two 'Mechs that were actually walking on the road. A Medium laser was the only weapons fire that came close to hitting them. Once they'd put a little distance between them they eased back, maintaining the distance just beyond their weapon range.

The chase came to an end for the Infantry truck when a PPC blast took out the lead truck. The other truck was half way through unloading when the second blast took it out too. The handful of surviving men started out for the tree line only to be greeted by sniper fire.

Jake took his time, waiting until the lance came onto long range sensors before heading towards the canyon. They eagerly took the bait and started closing the gap with him. He just made it into the canyon mouth as he started taking fire, they slowed up and tightened their formation before moving in.

After rounding a bend, they came face to face with a dead end. The Griffin stood looking down at them from the edge above. Suddenly two Marauders appeared either side of him.

They wasted no time, targeting the Firestarter and Stinger PPC beams quickly wreaked havoc on them. Jake managed a hit to the Firestarter's leg with a PPC just as he fired the jump jets and rose up out of the Canyon. The blast took it off cleanly, sending it crashing to the ground. The Stinger fared worse, catching three PPC rounds straight through the centre torso to breach the reactor.

The Commandos both turned and fled back down the Canyon. The Firestarter popped his hatch and was making a run for it on foot as Jake landed back in the Canyon to pursue the fleeing Commandoes. The Marauders began following the top trail back to the mouth of the Canyon.

The two Commandos rounded the final bend in the Canyon to find a partial avalanche blocking the exit and another Marauder blocking the only passable section. They would have to climb up to the Marauder's position to get through.

With no other choice they charged the small hill. Twin PPC beams took their toll on the lead Commando, it's Reactor breached, inflicting some damage on its Lance-mate.

Switching to Medium lasers the two 'Mechs faced off. Despite taking heavy punishment the Commando made it to the top of the Hill, only to see the other two Marauders now waiting for him.

The ejection seat flying through the air marked the end of the battle.

Tessa and Kara quickly joined Jake and Scott in the mouth of the Canyon, all of them awash with adrenaline, Jake and Scott also awash with extra heat. Scott called in the hastily arranged clean-up crews to capture the surviving warriors and collect any salvage. The four 'Mechs moved up and reviewed the wreckage of the Commandos, one was pretty much scrap and the second was now just a pair of lower legs and an arm. The first pilot had made it out but his ejection seat had hit the canyon wall and he wasn't moving.

"That Firestarter was mostly intact when it went down, just the leg lost." Kara said as they headed back up the trail, "That Stinger is a write-off though."

Sure enough, as they got up there three locals were hauling a sorry looking Mercenary pilot into their truck. Scott hit the external Speaker.

"We need him intact boys, play nice."

He looked back, the guy was obviously pretty smart, he'd resisted the urge to eject while out of control and climbed free of the Firestarter just a little worse for wear. The 'Mech itself actually looked easily salvageable, Jake called up the 'Mech carrier to collect it. At Scott's best estimate they had maybe two hours to scavenge everything and try to hide as much evidence of the battle as possible.

The four 'Mechs moved off across to another zone adjacent to the top of the pass to provide backup if more forces came up the hill, none did. It was well after midnight by the time they all made it back to the base.

Corporal Harman made her way down onto the Aurora's Aerospace flight deck, she had been summoned by the Unit's Commander. Word had gotten around that he was in a terrible mood after the disappearance of the Recon lance, Kate was regretting signing on with the Maulers more every day. Unfortunately for her as an owner/operator of her Phoenix Hawk it was difficult to back out of her Contract in the field.

The Commander paced back and forth across the open flight deck overlooking the town. The local Prostitutes were hiding behind the old couches they had liberated to furnish this 'Officers lounge'.

"AN ENTIRE LANCE!" he raged at one of the innocent girls, "JUST DISAPPEARED!"

He caught sight of her across the bay.

"You! I want you and that idiot Alvarez up that hill at first light. Screw what Major Hatamoto says, I will not let this go unpunished." he returned to his pacing. Harmon threw a salute even though she now faced his back then turned to go. She was about to go through the hatch when he spoke again.

"I bet you know exactly what's going on!" for some reason she turned, He had grabbed one of the girls by the neck and was stood on the lip of the external hatch.

"TELL ME! CONFESS!" he was screaming in rage centimetres from her face.

"I, I don't know anything." she was blubbering, "I just wanna go home."

"WELL DON'T LET ME KEEP YOU!" and with that he threw her over the edge.

Harmon quickly moved out of sight lest his wrath turn her way. She strode with purpose across to the elevator and took it up heading towards the bridge. She knew she needed a copy of that CCTV footage before it was deleted. Instead of going directly to the bridge though she accessed the ships main computer directly on a terminal in a service duct adjacent to the bridge.

Just as she'd finished she heard the Captain's distinctive boots stomp past, even they seemed angry. She slipped out and returned to the MechWarriors bunk room, Alvarez was watching a movie on his laptop.

"Hey. We got a mission first thing. We need to go prep." she said loudly, trying to gauge who was awake.

With no one else paying attention Kate picked up several unnecessary extra items belonging to Alvarez and handed them to him before she took a few extra items of her own with them to the 'Mech bay. They'd already discussed it in private, their contracts had been violated when they were involved in murdering civilians, better yet, it had overridden the non-compete clause, so they were free to contract on with the locals if they'd have them.

"I wish we could take the Griffin." Alvarez lamented as they squeezed into the Phoenix hawk's cockpit.

"You know the story, we have to go by the book 100% if we ever want to work again."

They'd discussed this a few times already, Alvarez's Griffin was owned by the unit. If they took it they'd be accused of theft. This way they would be fully in the clear when they eventually returned to Galatea. As soon as they could reach an HPG station they could submit their breach notice and file their footage. The Maulers would find it a lot harder to get work after that… if they survived this mission.

Kate drove her Phoenix Hawk down and out of the Dropship quietly as if nothing were unusual. The Spaceport pickets paid them no mind as they disappeared into the night.

Scott watched the Phoenix Hawk as it approached the ambush site on the road. This was completely weird. There was no backup and they seemed to be walking almost deliberately into an ambush.

"This is just weird." he muttered to himself as the 'Mech closed on the ambush point.

Suddenly, just a mere 60 metres short of the trigger they stopped.

And did… nothing.

Then the oddest thing occurred. It raised its arms vertical.

"All units go live but hold fire."

All four 'Mechs brought their reactors to full power, immediately lighting themselves up on the opponent's sensors.

"They certainly have cojones whoever they are!" Jakes voice came through.

They all stood there for a full minute.

"This is getting silly." Scott sighed and opened a channel to the watch network. "All stations report, confirm no action or movement."

He waited through the dozen station responses, all the same, all of them quiet.

"Well, here goes nothing." Scott muttered as he urged his Marauder forward.

He manoeuvred down onto the road and marched steadily up to the static Phoenix Hawk. Despite having fully scanned the 'Mech in infrared he switched on the forward search light to get a proper look.

Still nothing untoward. He flicked on the external speakers.

"MechWarrior, open channel 13." his voice echoed through the otherwise quiet pass.

Scott activated the channel and patched it onto his lance mates.

"Greetings Davion forces. I am MechWarrior Kate Harmon, my companion and I are currently freelance Mercenary warriors no longer under valid contract. We are seeking either employment or passage off this world."

Scott was lost for words for a moment.

"Umm… Ok. Message received. Stand by." he switched back to the private lance channel.

"Does anyone have any suggestions at this point?" After a full twenty seconds Kara spoke up.

"I think we're as stumped on this as you. If I remember my military contracting course this is a thing, but it rarely happens."

"Well, they say not to look a gift horse in the mouth but we'll still check this horse for Trojans."

Scott flipped channels and called up the salvage team. Switching back he requested that the MechWarrior take her machine prone directly onto the Mech hauler when it arrived.

About twenty minutes later the Phoenix Hawk was powered down and secured for transit. A squad had the two warriors under guard. Scott decided it might be wise to meet them before they set off, he dismounted and climbed into the back of the van they were in. They were both wearing cuffs and blackout hoods. He lifted the hoods.

"I'm sorry about the precautions. I hope you understand. I'm Commander Scott MacKenzie of the Waunakee irregulars."

"I wish we were meeting under better circumstances, I'd like you to have a look at some footage on my laptop. It might help explain a bit as to why we're here."

Kate gestured at one of the duffels stacked opposite them. Scott keyed his head mic.

"Do we have five minutes?"

"Still all clear, longer if you need it." Kara's voice came back a few seconds later.

Scott found the laptop and Kate gave him the passcode. Initially he was shocked after watching the footage but needed to be sure.

"So this happened tonight?" Kate nodded, "And she's a local working girl?" Scott leaned out of the van to look at the squad standing guard. One of them was a local Constable. "Shane, can you come and take a look at this?" he rewound the footage to give a clear shot of several of the girls.

"Do you recognize any of them?"

"Sure, most of them are girls from the Ranch" the footage finally rolled on to the important part, "I take it that's quite a drop. Where was this recorded?"

"You're looking at the flight deck of a Union class Dropship, the Aurora. It's easily 15 metres straight down onto concrete from there." Scott explained.

"That footage is about four hours old." Kate added.

"Her name was Athena, at least her working name, If this guy survives the ass kicking we're gonna give him he won't ever leave Waunakee." Shane had a dark look. "I'll need copies as soon as you can."

"Shane, can you put your old hat back on and get statements while we ride with our guests back to base?" Shane nodded in agreement to Scott's request. "Now if you'll excuse me, we need to get moving."

Jose looked over the Phoenix Hawk now stood in the service bay. Dawn light had just started to creep into the hangar. He'd just finished the full inspection. The 'Mech's armour was in sorry shape, a lot more patching than was acceptable. There was also only a handful of Machine gun rounds left and they had none in stock. Peter had told him not to start work until he gave the nod but that didn't mean he couldn't start prepping the armour.

A few minutes later Scott, Peter and the newcomer, Kate, came over to see him. Peter made the formal introductions before bringing him up to speed.

"Kate and her colleague have been officially contracted on with us." he explained, "We've agreed her remuneration will be in 'Mech repairs so that's what we need to discuss. What's the damage?"

"Well, we're going to need to overhaul all the armour, I'm surprised it hasn't fallen off on its own. There's less than 20% ammo for the MGs, one of the Mediums has an alignment issue that will need a full rebuild, we can swap it out in the meantime though. There's a bunch of other minor stuff but that's the big-ticket items."

The look of surprise on Kate's face was itself surprising to Jose.

"The armour is seriously that bad?"

"Take a look for yourself." Jose led them over to an open section of the 'Mech's leg, "There's about 50 years of temporary patching layered on there." He pointed out a cross section of armour, there were multiple layers visible where there should have been only one. The inside layers were starting to delaminate and flake away.

"You're lucky we have a proper panel forge here, working in shifts we should be able to turn it round in three days. Everything else can be done in parallel."

"That bastard Foster told me all the armour was fine." She cursed more to herself, "He's the Mauler's Chief Tech." she clarified, "I should have guessed from the condition of the Aurora, there's broken stuff all over that ship."

"So are you on board?" Scott asked the question.

"Three months, or till we kick the Snakes off-World, whichever comes first." She offered.

"Works for us I think." Scott looked at his father, he nodded.

"Well we best leave you to it." Scott said to Jose, "We'll need her in action as soon as possible."

The three moved off as Jose started rallying his crew.

"I'll introduce you to Jake in a bit, he drives the Griffin, you'll be working with him." Peter said, "Now in the meantime, what can you tell us about the condition of the Aurora?"


	7. Chapter 5: Taking the fight

**Taking the fight**

Scott sat in the briefing room with his two sisters and Father. Jake, Kate and now Mitchell, who had just finished prepping to drive the Firestarter, filed in to join them. Peter stood up to address the group.

"The odds have changed dramatically. We are no longer the hunted. Our opponent does not want to venture beyond the city, so the Highlands are safe for us for the moment. We have them bottled up. Further, on paper at least, we have nearly equal forces."

"That's the good news. The bad news is their forces are concentrated in the city and can easily support each other. They have additional firepower from the dropship and while they have a single fighter they don't have a pilot."

"One major advantage we have is their anger. Meade, their commander, is reckless and arrogant. His blind rage could easily lead to bad decisions in the heat of battle. If we can get them to split their forces. We could defeat them decisively."

"We have a plan. It's pretty bold but I think we can pull it off." Kate hadn't said anything so far. She smiled as she stood, she had their attention.

At the base of the range where the road begins its climb up into the hills there sits a small lake off to the north. The range above the lake had the shallowest incline and was the best spot to build the road but the lake itself was the issue. The road was forced to hug the lake before splitting off towards the city, along the way it crossed one of the deep, fast-moving rivers fed by the lake. Without the bridge, ground traffic would take an extra 20 to 30 minutes to go around to the next crossing point. Even 'Mechs could not handle the crossing there. The Bridge made for a convenient checkpoint for traffic going in and out of the city and since the loss of the Recon Lance, had been closed to all traffic.

Jake led his new Short Heavy Recon Lance down the hill towards the Bridge. The three 'Mechs, a Griffin, Phoenix Hawk and a Firestarter ignored the bridge and jumped across the River to hit the checkpoint on the city side.

The vehicles were quickly smashed and Infantry scattered. Ignoring the last few soldiers they pressed on towards the city, leaving two truck-loads of Irregular infantry to secure the area.

Meade was pacing on the Bridge of The Aurora.

"Contact, three 'Mechs, Griffin, Phoenix Hawk and Firestarter." The comms officer announced, trying to remain calm.

"WHAT?!" Meade hollered.

"Three 'Mechs sir, a Grif…"

"I HEARD YOU!" He cut him off. The Comms officer felt the heat of his rage.

"Two of our own 'Mechs are attacking us! TRAITORS!" he shouted at no one specifically.

"The Alert patrol are already on their way Sir." The Tactical officer managed to say.

He breathed for a few seconds.

"Good… Have my lance suit up. I'll have that bitch's head on a stick!" He stormed off the bridge.

The Combat patrol now consisted of two Archers and a Rifleman. It had taken nearly fifteen minutes making their way from the Spaceport, through downtown and out into the suburbs before they could engage the enemy. The lighter 'Mechs immediately took flight back towards the city limits. The light urban environment offered little cover against the heavier 'Mechs.

Pursuing them until they reached the river, the Combat patrol could only watch as the lighter 'Mechs jumped clear over the river and headed towards the hills, avoiding the infantry squad that was firing at them from the bridge checkpoint. The terrain over the other side of the river was more open before it hit the hills, they had a speed advantage but the heavier 'Mechs had a range advantage. The Infantry cleared away from the bridge ramp and waved the three heavies through to cross the bridge.

Meade was in a shouting match with Major Hatamoto on the command channel as he took his short lance through the downtown area.

"Have your 'Mechs fall back to this side of the river Captain!"

"I will crush these infidels first!"

"You will fall back immediately Captain! That is a dir…" Meade closed the channel and pushed his Marauder faster. The Warhammer and Thunderbolt quickly sped up to keep pace.

Once the Light 'Mechs hit the tree-line they switched tactics. Instead of withdrawing they started jumping from one cover position to another, making them extremely difficult to hit.

Meade led the charge across the Bridge to join up with the other short Lance then press the attack. The range closed quickly on the light 'Mechs in the forest. Then, much to their surprise the three simply jumped over the top of them and started running for the river. The three 'Mechs sailed through the air over the river and started off towards the city.

The Warhammer was the first 'Mech to reach the bridge, it was half way across when the Thunderbolt began to cross behind him. It was only a few seconds after the Warhammer pilot realised the infantry squad at the checkpoint had gone that a massive explosion took out the bridge. The Warhammer fell into the deep waters of the river while the Thunderbolt slid down the embankment into the shallows.

As Meade raged inside his cockpit and one of the Archers assisted the Thunderbolt slowly back up onto flat ground the Phoenix Hawk raised an arm and waived goodbye as it moved out of LRM Range.

The crew of the Aurora never saw them coming until it was too late.

When Peter had first reviewed images of the ships on the spaceport pad he couldn't work out why they'd landed with the hangar bays and ramps facing the town. Kate answered the question for them, there was extensive battle damage on that side, the turrets were not operational on the Sea-facing side.

The Flatbed truck had been driving in and out of the Cargo hold of the huge Union class Dropship most of the day. Meade had assigned a group of four Astechs to 'Procurement' Detail when they landed days earlier, this was basically authorized looting. On the back were several antique couches. As soon as the loaded truck was fully on the bottom of the ramp several small explosive charges detonated. But instead of blowing the whole truck sky-high, all four wheels were flung off in different directions. The heavy vehicle chassis dropped onto the ramp.

A few moments later, three Marauders emerged from the ocean behind the pad. There was little the bridge crew could do but watch them approach. Techs and crewmen scrambled to button up the ship for an emergency launch, but the Truck wreckage was preventing the ramp from closing.

Another vehicle pulled up and crewmen rapidly attached a huge tow cable to the wreck. As soon as the screeching of metal on metal started a secondary Anti-personnel charge went off, killing several people stood near the vehicle and wounding a dozen more. Charges had also severed all the tow lugs as well.

There was nothing they could do but scatter as the Marauders made their way under the guns of the dropship to the loading ramp. The lead 'Mech quickly entered the 'Mech bay while a second moved to stand on the ramp.

Two hover trucks moved rapidly to shore then through the breached fence and under the dropship. Resistance troops spilled out to secure the area, detaining Techs and boarding the ship. The 'Mech bay was secured fairly quickly but there was still more resistance throughout the ship.

Inside the 'Mech Bay the chaos was finally settling when two figures made their way up the gantry to the cockpit of the Griffin. Miguel was accompanied by a Tech to assess if they'd done anything to the 'Mech in his absence.

"Reactor is still hot but they have reset the access codes to default." He said, looking over the displays.

"Got it. We just need to recalibrate it to you again. Get your helmet on and we'll get started."

Word travelled back to Scott who was outside on the ramp. Even here he could hear the occasional thumping of weapons fire from inside the ship. Time seemed to slow down as he watched for activity across the Spaceport Tarmac.

"And then there were seven!" the radio crackled to life and another Griffin appeared at the top of the Ramp, "Sergeant Alvarez reporting for duty Sir."

The noise from inside seemed to have subsided and the infantry were now marching more people out onto the Tarmac to sit with the other Techs and Crew.

"Bridge and Engineering secured." Crackled across the radio. Finally, the words he'd been waiting on.

"Tessa, escort second squad over to the Mule. Good luck."

One of the hover trucks quickly filled with troops and fell in behind the Marauder already stomping across the Tarmac.

Scott switched to a different channel. "Jake, you are clear to approach."

"Roger that, ETA… eight minutes."

As Tessa approached the Mule a single figure carrying a white flag emerged from the loading ramp. The infantry swarmed in to take the ship without a fight. Most of the Crew were civilians with only a handful of small weapons.

Two more hover trucks came in from the sea, this time they carried a load of Technicians. The infantry had accounted for all the Crew and Techs from both ships and began moving them off to a Warehouse adjacent to the Spaceport.

The Griffin and three Marauders set off towards the city where a full firefight was underway. Local civilians had either taken up arms or taken up radios to report on enemy locations.

The Kuritan infantry were soon facing overwhelming odds. The heavy Recon 'Mechs were suited to anti-infantry action. Scott offered them the option to surrender, once Major Hatamoto realised even with Mead's force returning the odds were heavily against them he accepted it.

It took Meade and his forces just over half an hour to get down river to the next bridge. As they approached along the river embankment Meade was looking for traps. One of the other warriors spotted something hung under the bridge.

"Fool me once!" Meade declared almost maniacally. "Is it shallow enough to cross here?" he asked. They all looked towards the river, his force now down to his Marauder, the Thunderbolt, two Archers and a Rifleman.

"I believe so sir." Meade wasn't sure who had said it but he ordered his forces in.

They were halfway across the river when they discovered it had been mined.

The Thunderbolt lost a leg immediately, tumbling over and not surfacing. One of the Archers was next, critical damage to the leg caused it to freeze, leaving him stuck in chest high moving water. They formed up into single file and pushed on to the other shore.

There had only been half a dozen mines, strategically placed at the first accessible crossing point, Meade never found out the bridge wasn't mined.

They were now approaching the city from the south, down to three 'Mechs. The suburban sprawl quickly changed to urban and industrial.

"Hatamoto where are you hiding you coward?" Meade cursed inside his cockpit. He couldn't raise the Dropship or the Infantry Commander. He toggled on the open Lance channel. "Head back to the Ship, we'll secure the port and evacuate if Hatamoto is a no-show." He grinned at the silly rhyme, 'Major No-Show' this would be his new name for him.

They had almost made it back to the Dropship when the Ambush was sprung. The contacts appeared on the scope behind them, emerging from some warehouses.

"One, two, three." The unknown Griffin, the traitorous Phoenix Hawk and Firestarter. He counted them off as they jumped to attack them.

"There they are! Attack!" he yelled into the Comms. They had left their ambush a little too late, they would have them! The lance turned as one to face the landing 'Mechs. Instead of landing at point blank range they touched down behind several buildings nearby.

Something wasn't right. Meade's gut was practically screaming at him, but his frustrations were in charge. Focussed on the 'Mechs in front of him he didn't even see the rest appear on his scope.

"Behind us!" someone was yelling on comms. But it was too late. Multiple lasers drilled through the weak rear armour of the Rifleman, the Engine breached and the whole 'Mech disappeared in a mini nova.

Three Marauders and a Griffin were now stood behind them, a Griffin, Phoenix Hawk and Firestarter in front. All were less than 100 metres away.

"Surrender Meade!" The unrecognised voice called to him on an open Comms channel as well as a loud speaker. The Archer raised both arms vertically.

"Jackson you coward!" he yelled.

Meade swung his 'Mech around to face the three Marauders behind him and charge forward. Firing the two PPCs at this range proved ineffective. The three Marauders returned fire with a host of Medium Lasers destroying huge amounts of armour. Combined with the charge, the sudden shift in weight led to Meade losing his footing and his Marauder overbalanced, crashing forward to the ground.

Meade looked up through his canopy to see the weapons pod of one of the Marauders pointing directly at him. The close range shot from the PPC wasn't as effective as it would be normally, but it was enough to penetrate the head and destroy the cockpit.

Meade's Maulers was no more.


	8. Chapter 6: Interlude

**Interlude**

The chaos that followed over the next few days as the irregulars scrambled to get as many 'Mechs operational as possible awoke something in the senior MacKenzie family member. Peter felt more alive guiding the formation of the new Waunakee Irregulars than he had in years.

There was little work needed to the three existing Marauders. The two Griffins and Phoenix Hawk had only moderate damage, the Firestarter had lost one of its flamers but was quickly swapped out to a Medium Laser.

The Archer in the River was an easy repair, but the Thunderbolt was a nightmare to haul out and just as difficult to fix.

Meade's old Marauder wasn't difficult to fix in the end, Peter had acquired an entire Marauder Cockpit a few years back as part of a salvage lot and was easily swapped out. The Warhammer however was quickly turning out to be the Most difficult. While mostly intact, they found numerous issues with electronic systems and brittle armour patches after hauling it out of the river.

All told they managed to prep and field Four Marauders, two Archers, a Warhammer, a Thunderbolt, two Griffins, a Phoenix Hawk and a Firestarter.

In addition, they found the Lucifer Aerospace fighter in the other flight bay. There were several repairs to the airframe needed to make it flightworthy, the Maulers had not been contracted for Aerospace duties so hadn't bothered to hire a pilot and didn't have sufficient funds to do the repairs. Luckily, they had two pilots in their graduating group already.

Finally, the biggest windfall were the two Dropships, a Mule class Cargo hauler and most importantly, a Union class 'Mech transporter. They had now renamed the Union class ship 'Athena', after the girl who had died at Meade's hand. They managed to patch some of the damage on her hull and get most of the turrets fixed.

One of the biggest jobs turned out to be paint. They were about to jump across the continent and enter a bigger battlefield, they needed to look like professional Mercenaries, not ragtag resistance fighters. Peter practically enlisted every able-bodied person in town to get the Ship and all the 'Mechs repainted.

Ammunition was another issue as well. They were low on everything except LRMs and Class 5 Autocannon rounds as these were used in the ship, but even those weren't plentiful.

Nearly a week later they were finally ready. They packed everything they thought they might need aboard both ships and sent the Lucifer to scout a landing site and potential enemy forces.

The fight for Halifax was won, The battle for Akee City and Waunakee itself was next.


	9. Chapter 7: The Capital

**The Capital**

Peter was familiar with several places the Waunakee Militia may have holed up, so they started with some aerial reconnaissance before they planned the next stage.

As it turned out, Leon, their new Lucifer pilot, got lucky and spotted a column of 'Mechs being harassed by recon units as they moved through a valley. After a quick flyby to confirm who was on which side he circled back around and strafed the lance of Kuritan Jenners who were trying to pick off some of the more heavily damaged Militia forces.

The light 'Mechs quickly broke off their attack, but he stayed on them. Eventually managing to take out one of them before fuel became an issue. He returned to reconfirm the column location, leaving them with a Barrel roll before returning to Halifax.

After a quick refuel Leon returned back to the column closely followed by both Dropships. After putting down in a decent field Peter sent out Jake's Recon Lance to meet the Militia.

A few hours later the Militia straggled in to the landing site in a sorry state.

Down to just over a company of Medium and Heavy 'Mechs, they were out of ammunition and had armour that looked like swiss cheese. Peter came out to meet lieutenant Pierce, the current commander of the Militia. When he recognized Peter he literally hugged him.

The twelve worst 'Mechs were quickly loaded into the Athena to start immediate repairs and reloading what ammo they had. Most of the Militia warriors took the opportunity to get some sleep, most had been sleeping in their cockpits for over two weeks.

The two commanders spent many hours into the night reviewing what little intel they had and drawing up plans.

In the beginning the Waunakee Militia had started with two companies, one Heavy and one Medium. The Kuritans had arrived with a full battalion of Medium to Heavy 'Mechs.

The two sides had gone toe-to-toe throughout the city. The Militia had knocked them down to two companies but the Kuritans had given as good as they received, taking the Militia down to 14 badly damaged 'Mechs.

By the end of the battle the Militia were forced to withdraw from the city. With no base of operations, the Militia couldn't carry out anything more than basic field repairs while the Kuritan forces had full control of the Militia base as well as their own dropships for supplies. If the Militia got into any prolonged engagement they would start losing 'Mechs quite quickly.

Now the forces were close to equal, but a direct engagement could go badly for either side. They needed a strategy to try and split their forces or ambush them.

The following morning started with an air of hope in the hastily erected Camp.

Seven Militia 'Mechs were already back to fully operational, another five would be back in the field by the end of the day. Unfortunately, the last two would require more work than was possible in the field so were cannibalized for parts. Ammunition was also a big issue, with two Riflemen and two Wolverines needing Autocannon rounds they nearly emptied the ships reserves. Another two Archers meant LRMs were running dangerously low also. They'd get one shot at this, so they had to get it right.

Pierce, Peter and Scott sat in Athena's small briefing room going over the tactical maps. Pierce had verified what the captured Mule Captain had told them earlier. The snakes had planned to steal a full shipment of Gems used for Laser production from the Keel precious gem mines in the hills to the North of the city but had missed an entire departing load by a mere three days.

"They're filling their other Mule class dropship steadily with daily ore convoys from the Mine to the spaceport." Pierce explained, "Disabling the mine might encourage them to withdraw sooner but would hurt our own economy in the long run."

"So how certain are we on the 'Mech numbers defending the Mine?" Scott asked.

"We have a number of contacts in the Mine, they could probably tell you what they had for breakfast." Pierce explained, "Two Lances of new dragons, word is all eight are fresh graduates, DCMS sent them out here to blood them."

Peter pointed to an area north of the Mine on the Map, "So, the main force at the space port is only 20 mins away, not enough time to defeat them decisively. But they would need to pass through this pass here to get there in that time. If we could delay the reinforcements there even for an additional 20 minutes, we would have a chance to defeat or at least break the defenders of the Mine, then try and roll up the rest of the forces."

"What about mining the pass?" Peter asked.

"We looked at that early on, too much ground traffic to get in there and bury the explosives undetected."

"We could bomb it." Scott suggested. "We found a couple of dumb bombs stored on the Athena, we have plenty of Mining explosive, we should be able to seriously upgrade the yield."

"The CAP out of the spaceport will be all over them the moment they're detected. It'd be a miracle if he could get to site first."

"What do we know about their detection grid?" Peter asked.

Pierce paused in thought, "That's a good point, they hit the ATC centre when they first landed, knocked out the dishes on Sword mountain. They would be relying on Ship radar from the Spaceport and the fighters."

Peter picked up on his idea, "The Mountains would create a blind spot if he came in NOE over the Mine. The force at the Mine would be the first to report it, there'd be just enough time to hit the target and run."

"It's not gonna be easy for Leon, his fighter will handle like a cow with all that ordinance. He'll literally only get one shot at it." Scott said, "I suppose we should get him up here and see if he's up for it."

The Mine facility was a collection of buildings spread out on a small plateau, From offices and generators to vehicle yards and elevator shaft heads. There were three roads leading into the site, two were from the south and one went North, through the target pass to the City and the Spaceport.

Scott was leading his company up the South West trail while Pierce led the Militia up the South East trail.

Scott leaned forward to get a better view of the clear blue sky. Leon would pass almost directly overhead on his way to the North Pass. He likely would not see him until he was right on top of him. If Leon missed hitting the pass or the avalanche wasn't enough to slow the reinforcements sufficiently, they would be facing a bloody battle.

The rumble built up quickly and the Lucifer passed overhead so close Scott felt he could reach out and touch it.

"Marauders, Move out!" he signalled over comms.

The twelve 'Mechs began moving up the trail, the Four Marauders in the lead.

Leon was a gum chewer.

It was a nervous habit, and he was nervous now. It was a constant battle to keep his fighter low while carry this much ordinance.

The Mine site came up on him quite quickly. The HUD reported two Dragons locking on with their Autocannons, He could hear a few rounds peppering his armour as he roared straight over their heads and out of their range. The warnings from the HUD didn't stop though. Two Kuritan Sholagars were closing rapidly on him from the Northeast.

"Dammit!" he cursed before opening the channel, "CAP is early, two Shols."

In a normal fight he would stand a good chance of coming out on top. But carrying ground ordinance he was a sitting duck.

He watched the release point approach, but the fighters were on him a few seconds before it, forcing him to veer off. The two Kuritan fighters spilt off, banking left and right to come around and hit him from either side.

Leon tried to put himself in their shoes. What were they expecting him to do? Head for the Spaceport on a suicide run perhaps... So they would expect him to lay on the throttle and try to outrace them there.

Instead he pulled back on the stick and reduced the throttle to nearly zero. The G-forces pummelled him into his seat as the ground rolled out from under him. The flight level indicator seemed to disappear down a long dark tunnel as he watched for it show full inversion.

Finally, at the top he eased back and rolled his fighter over. He'd reversed direction but had lost a lot of speed and was nearly loitering over the target. The laser fire came this time as he put his nose down to dive at the target. They wouldn't catch him this time.

The Bombs released and he pulled away. The massive impact explosion coming a few seconds later.

"Target hit." He confirmed over comms as he turned back towards the mine. There was no time to verify the condition of the road.

The two fighters closed in again for another round. This time however they failed to realise there were two Companies of 'Mechs directly under them. Ground fire erupted, both Sholagars tried to pull away but some of the damage must have affected the control surfaces of one of them as it could not climb above one of the surrounding peaks.

The pilot had no time to eject.

Leon pulled around again, the odds far more favourable. It took a few minutes, but his superior firepower and armour won the day. He had been watching the Scope for any additional fighters and still there were none. He took a pass over the northern road again to see the condition. The road was certainly covered in rubble but not impassable.

"CAP destroyed, no reinforcement sighted. Target condition… moderately successful." It would slow down the reinforcements, but he couldn't tell if it was enough. As he rolled around back to the south his sensors warned him about the approaching relief force from the Spaceport.

Meanwhile back on the ground both companies had poured into the mining site. The Dragons were trying a fighting retreat, but Scott was using the four Marauders to concentrate fire on one unit at a time. It was proving highly successful, the narrow trail forced both sides into close quarter fighting. At first the Dragons fell back faster than the Marauders could close on them but as they hit the southern side of the landslide the Marauders closed, hitting them hard. Below them they could see the relief force, the recon Jenners now using jump jets to climb over the rough terrain.

"Jake, bring up the strike team." Scott ordered as one of the last three remaining Dragons fell.

The flare of Jump jets filled the sky above his cockpit as Jake led a Team of Griffins, Wolverines and Enforcers into the fray. Rather than trying to engage the rapid jumping Jenners at range they jumped straight in to point blank range and unloaded. Vastly outgunned, the three Jenners fell quickly.

As the fighting eased off Scott took a moment to look at the long-range sensors. The blips were disappearing then reappearing as the terrain blocked the signal, but it looked like there were only eight targets.

"Leon, are you still with us?" he opened comms to the Fighter.

"Copy Scott, go ahead."

"Can you tie me into your sensors and give us a fly-over of the enemy force?"

"Not a problem."

Scott established the link and waited on the update with bated breath.

He watched the additional tactical data flesh out the anonymous blips, there were only two Lances. Three Dragons, a Warhammer, three Archers, and a Catapult.

"They must have held back a lance to secure the spaceport." He opened the unit wide comms. "All units, we are facing two heavy lances only. Commence attack!"

Scott lead the charge down the rocky hill and onto the intact section of the road. Only slowing long enough to form up into a cohesive unit they pressed on against the retreating Draconis 'Mechs. The engagement quickly turned into a fighting retreat for the Snakes, all the way back to the spaceport.

The Mule was the first ship to launch.

They watched it lift off as they fought in the streets of Akee City. Scott had to give them credit, they were tenacious, doing more damage than they took. Still, as they closed in on the Spaceport the Kuritans were down to two Dragons, a Catapult and a Warhammer.

The Militia hadn't fared as well, ten 'Mechs had retired from the fight along the way, eight were still functional, walking wounded. The Irregulars had been forced to drop out the Thunderbolt and the Firestarter.

"All units hold up here." Scott called a halt to their forces.

They had stopped short of the Overlord Dropship's guns. There were now two Sabre Fighters circling overhead but they hadn't tried to engage. The surviving Kuritan 'Mechs fell back to the Dropship.

A kind of stalemate had been reached, the Kuritans didn't have the firepower to go hunt the Militia and conversely the Militia didn't have the firepower to take on the Dropship's guns just yet. Scott watched on as the Kuritan 'Mechs loaded up at the last minute and the ship finally launched.

The city, in fact the whole planet, was theirs again.


	10. Chapter 8: Aftermath

**Aftermath**

Peter walked across the 'Mech bay to where Scott and Kate were watching the refit of her new Griffin. As one of the five founding Owner-operators in MacKenzie's Marauders she had decided to throw her lot in and become a Stakeholder. It hadn't taken Scott a lot of effort to persuade her to trade in her Phoenix Hawk. Having won it in a high-stakes poker game a few years earlier she didn't have that much sentimental attachment. In fact, it had led to a lot of the bad blood in her previous unit.

To Scott, the rows of identical 'Mechs were a reminder of the days of the Star League. Back then whole companies would be made up of identical 'Mechs. Perhaps it was nostalgia for a time that he never knew. But given their financial health they of the Marauders they had the ability to make that choice. By limiting themselves to only three chassis types they had made maintenance much easier and reduced the amount of spare parts they needed to carry. As the only 'Mechs using ammunition were now the Archers, they also needed to carry very little ordinance too. In fact, they'd taken that further, and replaced all the Autocannons on the Athena with PPCs making LRMs the only expendable ordinance across the whole unit. The reduction in weight and freeing up of space allowed for a few other changes to make the Athena a more comfortable home as well.

Scott Came to attention, giving his father a salute. It had been over four months since Peter had taken up the role of Commander of the Waunakee Militia at the behest of the Planetary Governor. He was now the Marauder's Employer, at least until the end of the year.

"I hear you've had three contract offers come through already son." Peter said.

"Rubbish. The lot of them." Kate declared. As the only truly experienced Mercenary she was now their unofficial contract negotiator. "They're testing the waters. We'll have better luck hunting for our own, we have time."

"Good, the Athena refit is done but the refit of the Pallas is going to be another three weeks." Scott said as he turned to look up the 'Mech bay. The Pallas was one of two Buccaneer class Dropships the Marauders had acquired in a deal with the local Mining consortium. They had received them in exchange for the captured Mule class Dropship then sold one of the two outright before refitting the other as a support ship with additional weapons, Fuel and Armour, four 'Mech Bays, four Heavy Vehicle bays and additional passenger berths.

Kate spotted Jake coming towards them across the Bay. The affection she had in her eyes could not be hidden. Scott gave his father a wry smile. Peter had seen this before, he was going to need to chat with them before they left. Kate excused herself and headed to intercept him. The father and stood for a moment.

"Are you sure I can't convince you to come along at least once?" Scott asked as they began their stroll down the 'Mech Bay.

Peter managed a chuckle, "No son. My place is here, albeit behind a desk for a couple of years until things are sorted. It's your time to lead, all three of you need to stretch your wings. I'll still be here when you get back."

Scott nodded. He knew he could handle the responsibility but was still not sure. His father had said earlier that was a good thing, he was aware of the weight of the job before he started rather than finding out at a critical moment that you're not cut out for it.

As they walked, they could see some flashing bursts of light around the canopy of Tessa's Marauder. One of the Munitions Scissor lifts was parked directly in front of it. Peter had thought it was an Arc welder at first but now realised it was a Photographer.

They spotted Tessa posing for photos atop the hatch of her Marauder.

"I'm glad to see she's not in her bikini this time." Peter said.

Tessa had become the darling of local media. First as 'Arm Candy' for the tedious social functions her father now had to attend and her mother had managed to avoid, but quickly she had come into her own in the local social circuit and worked to build her father's power base. He was going to miss that when they left.

Scott had to laugh, "It was for a Halifax tourism campaign, and it certainly worked, Mother is quite enjoying managing the Lodge now it's re-opened."

"I don't know whether I need to tell you to keep an eye on her or the other way around." Peter lamented.

"Definitely the other way around." Scott laughed again.

They walked on, leaving Tessa and the Photographer behind.

"How are things going with the Militia?" Scott asked casually as they strolled.

"I'm still turning up new rorts that the old guard had going on. Just the other week I found out we have an 'Officer Training Facility' down town. Turns out it's a 'Gentlemen's Club'.

Scott shook his head. This wasn't the first story he'd heard from his father. Peter had known there were a lot of dubious things happening in the Militia before, but even he was surprised when he went over the books. Turns out they had an entire infantry Battalion that was on paper only.

"I'll bet there'll be some unhappy folks over this." Scott said.

"Absolutely, I put all the prices up." Scott couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at this.

"The cheeky Bastards were deliberately subsidising it on the Militia's purse." Peter explained, "I just made a few changes and gave them a six-month window to turn a profit. We'll sell it as a going concern running if they succeed or shut it down and sell the assets if they don't."

Scott still had to shake his head. The Landed gentry were not known for tolerating people upsetting the Apple Cart, but in this case the MacKenzie Clan were Old-money and Landed also.

Still, Peter knew the window of opportunity for change was starting to close. His real focus was to build an economy for Halifax beyond Tourism, in this case as a Military Training Centre and home for the Marauders. Helping Halifax from behind the scenes was a tradition for the MacKenzie Clan, his ancestor Paul had begun it somewhat in secret, but it was now time to emerge from the shadows.


End file.
